The few remaining spots left in Mandeville Cemetery will cost more, after the City Council decided Thursday to bring rates closer in line with market prices.

The city is also preparing to purchase a 4.4-acre tract on Bayou Castine for drainage use and as a potential site for a cemetery expansion.

The cemetery's last in-ground plot sold this past year, and the original mausoleum only has one crypt left for purchase. A second mausoleum that was completed last year has 25 crypts remaining out of 104.

"It won't be long before we need another mausoleum," Finance Director Milton Stiebing said.

Prices for single mausoleum crypts, which had been in the $2,000 range for the past seven years, are now between $2,920 and $3,470. Two-person crypts, formerly either $3,940 or $4,490, now cost around $5,550.

Acme Mausoleum, which built the new mausoleum, sold some of the crypts that it retained the rights to at about 10 percent more than the new city rates, but city officials decided to forgo the extra profit, Stiebing said.

The new ordinance also raises prices for in-ground plots. Those plots are currently sold out, but owners who decide they no longer need them occasionally sell them back to the city, which can then put them on the market again.

Plots that were formerly $350 for Mandeville residents and $450 for non-residents are now $550 and $650.

"It's pretty routine to do that, in keeping with, of course, the present-day cost of interments, crypts and plots," said Councilman Denis Bechac of the rate increase. "When we resell, we're not selling at the value it was 20 years ago -- we're bringing it up to the current rate." Even with the price hikes, the city rates are still significantly below what most private cemeteries charge, according to Stiebing.

The cemetery, located between Montgomery and Livingston Streets in old Mandeville, is owned and operated by the city. It generates about $35,000 in annual revenue, but upkeep is expensive, with grass-cutting alone costing $18,000 a year, Stiebing said.

While there is room for several more mausoleums, the city may eventually need to expand beyond the current cemetery site. The Bayou Castine property, which contains both wetlands and higher ground, is being purchased primarily for drainage purposes, but city officials say they will also consider it as a future cemetery site.

Half of the expected purchase price of $675,000 will come from the city's general fund and the rest from a special sales tax fund dedicated for water, sewage, streets and drainage.

City officials also hope to use the site as a park, eventually building a canoe launch, boardwalks and nature trails.

"Who knows, some developer might have come along and wanted to build on it. This takes it out of commerce," said Councilwoman Zella Walker.

While Walker calls a cemetery expansion "one possible use," Bechac thinks the land is too low-lying to be used to bury bodies.

"I'd rather keep it as green space, open space, parkland as opposed to a cemetery," Bechac said. "You'll have problems with periodic inundation. If you have caskets underground, you run into potential for problems with caskets pushing or floating up."

Cindy Chang can be reached at cchang@timespicayune.com or (985) 898-4816.